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4th Annual ECC Book Club | August 25, 2017

by Angela Taldone (Design Assistant, Little, Brown Books for Young Readers | Hachette Book Group)

On a hot, summer evening in July, the ECC board met to discuss the much-anticipated Fall 2017 middle-grade novel, Nevermoor: The Trials of Morrigan Crow by Jessica Townsend. After a vote, Nevermoor came up on top and was chosen as the Book Club pick for the year. As expected, (though I am very biased) Townsend’s debut novel was a hit amongst the board, and we had a great discussion over some snacks and refreshments.

Nevermoor: The Trials of Morrigan Crow, which comes out this October, is Jessica Townsend’s first novel and the first in the Nevermoor series. Morrigan Crow was born on Eventide, making her cursed. She’s blamed for most minor to major misfortunes that happen where she lives, and worst of all, because of her unlucky birthday, she’s set to die on her eleventh birthday. A mysterious man named Jupiter North saves her from her demise and brings her to the magical city called Nevermoor. In order to be able to stay in Nevermoor, Morrigan must join the Wundrous Society, which proves to be easier said than done. She must compete in four difficult and dangerous trials against hundred of other children, which will ensure her place in the Wundrous Society. If she doesn’t, she’ll have to leave Nevermoor for good and face her death.

The ECC board loved the storyline and the characters, especially the sassy Morrigan and quirky Jupiter. It was noted that Towsend’s character development was really great, and there were even a few Harry Potter references, which in this case, wasn’t a bad thing at all.  We were all a little surprised to find that the story wasn’t as predictable as we had anticipated, and there were some jaw-dropping, “didn’t see that coming,” shocking moments that drew us in even further. We all agreed that Nevermoor is something special and can’t wait to read the next one.